


When It Rains

by WayWardWonderer



Category: Ghostbusters (Movies 1984-1989), The Real Ghostbusters
Genre: Apocalypse, Chaos, Destruction, Doomsday, Gen, Hurt, Prophecy, Rain, Sacrifice, Storm - Freeform, Wounded, dying, injured
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 11:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: A storm bombards the city as an deity prepares to arrive to pass judgment on all of humanity. Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore are the only ones who can defend the world from the impending calamity and the potential resulting Apocalypse.





	When It Rains

A heavy deluge had soaked New York City for an entire week causing many of the streets to partially flood, roofs to leak and civilians who were unfortunate enough to get chronically caught in the rain to catch cold. Many power lines throughout the city had fallen loose under the bombarding rain sending parts of the city into rolling blackouts that only pushed the already high levels of collected stress to the limit.

"When will this rain stop?" Dr. Peter Venkman whined as he forcefully pushed open the door of the firehouse and threw off his soaked through brown trench coat onto the garage floor. "I had to take a canoe to get across the street! It's like the end of the world out there!"

Dr. Ray Stantz had heard Peter enter theatrically but was too preoccupied with the latest data that he had retrieved regarding the psychokinetic energy levels over the city. Sitting on the hood of Ecto-1 he ran the lengthy paper through his fingers as he mentally calculated the numbers. "Good morning Peter."

"Is that all you have to say?" Peter asked as he sat down on the hood uncomfortably close to Ray, intentionally letting his wet clothing dampen Ray's own clothes. Craning his neck he looked at the paper in Ray's hands and rolled his eyes. "The world is drowning and you're doing math!"

"I'm not-" Ray suddenly became aware that his left rolled up sleeve of his red flannel shirt was now cold, wet and clinging to his arm. "Hey! You're all wet!"

Peter just stared at Ray with an annoyed glance as a rain water dripped down from his hair and ran down his face. Cold and irritated Peter shook his head and hopped off the hood of the car, slipping off his light blue jacket and dropping in onto the floor next to the soaked coat. "I'm going to dry off and change my clothes into something warmer and less clingy. Where's Spengz and Zed?"

"Egon is in the basement checking on the back-up generator's back-up generator." Ray pointed toward the basement stairwell where their colleague Dr. Egon Spengler was currently working in solitude. Ray then motioned with his thumb, pointing casually over his shoulder toward the door, to indicate where Winston Zeddemore and Janine Melnitz had disappeared. "And Winston is with Janine getting emergency supplies just in case this weather pattern holds."

"Don't we have enough emergency supplies?" Peter questioned as he walked up the stairs to the second floor, pulling his wet gray t-shirt up and over his head as he walked and dropping it behind him on the stairs. "It looks like you, Egon and Winston are preparing for World War III and could win just by chucking all your stocked up batteries at the enemy!"

"Don't be silly Peter." Ray looked up from the paper just as Peter reached the top of the stairs. "Our stun grenades will work just fine."

Peter froze at the top of the stairs and glanced down at Ray with a blank expression on his face. "I can't tell if you're joking or not, and frankly I don't want to know." After quipping with his friend he resumed his mission to dry off and change his clothes in the bunk room.

* * *

Egon, wearing his white lab coat over his usual three piece gray suit and dark blue tie, stood before the massive containment unit holding the thousands of ghosts held captive within. Carefully eyeing the power levels as the devastating storm threatened to knock out the power throughout the entire city and allow the ghosts to flee their unique prison. Ever attentive to any and all worse case scenarios Egon painstakingly checked each circuit and each wire to ensure that the containment unit's power would not fail in the event of a total black out.

Removing his glasses the physicist rubbed at his tired eyes with his fingers and sighed. "This weather isn't natural." His thoughts were shifting back and forth between the storm and the containment unit. "There must be an underlying cause for such an uncommonly excessive downpour. Paranormal activity had been peaking just a few days prior to the storm, perhaps there is a connection."

As Egon replaced his glasses he decided to check in on the data that Ray had collected in order to test his theory. The containment unit continued to hum away as the constant energy proceeded to power the unorthodox prison and keep the innocent citizens of New York safe from paranormal disturbances.

Ray was still sitting on the hood of Ecto-1, his red flannel shirt now draped over the side and his black t-shirt now exposed. He had finished reading through the data and was now mentally compiling the results as he too had a very distinct and all too ominous feeling that the weather and abundant PKE activity were somehow connected.

"How's the containment unit holding up?" Ray asked as Egon walked over to the car to speak with him.

"It's stable." Egon confirmed as he glanced at the paper in Ray's hands. "But I do have a working theory I'd like to run by you."

"Huh, I have a theory of my own. Wonder if we're thinking the same thing."

Peter's voice sounded off unexpectedly from the staircase. "If you two are thinking the same thing then it's either going to be something really good or something really bad." He casually strolled back down to the first floor wearing a dry white t-shirt and a pale green shirt over top. He had even changed out of his khakis into a pair of dark blue jeans. "I'm thinking that whatever it is we're dealing with is going to come back and bite us right in the-"

The door to the firehouse opened suddenly as Winston pushed the large green door open and let Janine walk inside a few paces ahead of him. Winston was completely soaked from head to toe while Janine had fared a little better in the rain. While Janine carried two medium bags of supplies Winston had held the umbrella over her head with one hand and carried the heaviest bag in the other.

Both Winston and Janine were dripping with rain water, it collected in puddles on the garage floor around their feet where they stood.

"We made it..." Winston huffed as he threw aside the umbrella and slammed the door shut behind him. "Barely!"

"Mass hysteria?" Peter grinned as he hoped to prod the rain drenched marine just enough to get a laugh.

Janine shot Peter a dirty look and pushed the two bags she had been carrying into his arms. "Not funny."

"It's a little funny." Peter smugly defended the comment as he awkwardly kept the bags from falling out his arms.

Winston, like Peter, dropped his soaked leather coat onto the floor and revealed his just as wet clothing beneath. His black t-shirt and blue jeans were completely saturated in the rain and his body was shivering as a result. "Man... I think we might be dealing a Gozer level of chaos." Winston suddenly sneezed but caught it in his free hand. He excused himself before continuing on. "The store shelves are picked clean, people are panicking and shoving everywhere we go, rolling black outs and muggers at every corner."

Peter looked at the contents inside the bag and cocked an eyebrow. "It looks like you two did pretty well."

"Yeah," Janine folded her arms bitterly as she kept her angry glare fixed on Peter. "after we spent two hours searching through every store in a six block radius to find anything useful."

Winston sneezed again and handed the bag over to Ray as he began rubbing his hands up and down his shivering arms. Ray managed to hold the heavy bag without dropping his data sheet in the process.

"Oh, great." Janine walked back over to Winston and put a hand to his forehead. "If you got sick because you let me use the umbrella..."

"I'm fine Janine." Winston insisted as he gave her a reassuring smile. "I just need to warm up and get out of these wet clothes."

"You do that." Egon agreed with Winston and motioned toward Peter. "Help Janine with the supplies while Winston warms up and Ray and myself begin work on our hypothesis."

"Why do I get put on inventory while you two do all the science stuff?"

"Peter," Egon gave the stubborn psychologist a stern look. "you dislike science."

"I do." Peter admitted with a coy shrug of the shoulders. "But I dislike manual labor more."

Janine took the lone bag from Ray's hands and shoved Peter's back with her hand, pushing him toward the stockroom at the back of the garage. "Move!"

"Hey!" Peter vocally protested but obediently walked. "I pay your salary!"

"Not enough!" Janine refuted sharply as she proceeded to push him toward the stockroom with a strong hand.

"Good point."

Winston discreetly dismissed himself as he retreated to the bunk room on the second floor to seek warmth and change into dry clothing. Ray held out the sheet of printed data for Egon to examine for himself. "Check out the latest readings on the PKE activity in the city."

Egon's keen observation skills easily analyzed the collected data and compared it to the typical PKE readings that had been proven to be of normal, safe levels for the city. "Hm, this is unusual."

"That's what I thought. Notice how the levels peaked to dangerously high levels just before the storm?"

"I have. We haven't seen PKE levels this high since our final confrontation with Gozer."

"Think he's back?" Ray asked in a level tone but his mismatched colored eyes betrayed him and revealed the intense fear he was trying to deny.

"Unknown." Egon carefully folded the paper into a neat square and looked toward the small lab in the corner of the room. "We'll need further scans before we can make any definitive conclusions."

* * *

Winston stood in the shower and let the hot water warm his chilled body. Always reserved and never one to show any sign of panic, Winston had a twisted knot in his gut telling him that there was something very sinister on the horizon. Leaning forward with his arm pressed against the wall, he rested his forehead against his forearm and let the hot water run down his neck, his shoulders and back.

Closing his eyes Winston tried to calm his worries and convince himself that in the end everything will be okay. A worry that he didn't want to share with his colleagues, he couldn't risk his own doubts affecting their judgment and confidence as a result.

"I hope I'm wrong." Winston told himself as he stood alone in the shower lost in thought. "We've survived the end of the world before, we can do it again... I just hope it doesn't come down to a world ending apocalypse."

* * *

Peter slowly and purposefully took his time with properly placing the supplies on the shelf while Janine expertly put everything where it belonged and did so at an appropriately productive pace.

Massive stocks of multiple batteries lined the bottom two shelves, a dozen flashlights filled the half of the shelf above alongside a dozen emergency first aid kits. The next shelf above held hundreds of bottles of clean drinking water and the top shelf contained a box of hazard suits and the second half held tin cans of food.

"Done." Janine stated as she stood up right and put her hands to her hips. Her purple blouse had escape the rain but her beige knee high skirt wasn't so lucky, neither were her bare legs. Her shoes, a pair of black pumps, took the worst damage but she didn't mind too much. "I'm going to go home and lock myself in my apartment until this stupid storm is finally over. Call me ONLY if there's an emergency!"

Peter loved to tease Janine but he also knew better than to push her too far. The fiery receptionist wasn't shy about expressing her true feelings and letting anyone, including her bosses, know what she really thinks.

Without uttering a single cheesy one-liner Peter watched as Janine left the stock room and made her way back across the garage toward the door.

"Wonder if I could get away with that?" Peter wondered aloud as tossed aside the now empty bags without a care in the world over his shoulder and onto the floor. "Of course I also wonder what Egon does for fun when I'm not looking. Best to not ask too many questions."

With his task finished Peter walked through the garage and overheard the muffled voices of Ray and Egon speculating over the current readings together in the lab. As he made his way over to the opened door of the lab he could see his two friends comparing notes on the desk in the lab in an intense discussion.

"Anything I should be worried about?" Peter asked as he dismissively leaned against the door frame and watched his friends from the distance.

"Not yet." Ray replied firmly as he and Egon meticulously checked the readings and compared the massive difference in PKE levels from the standard level to the current level. "But I wouldn't make any long term plans."

"That's comforting." Peter scratched at his chin nonchalantly as he noticed Winston now descending the stairs to rejoin the others in the lab. "Janine left for the day. Don't call her unless you want to die."

Winston stood beside Peter in the doorway looking noticeably more comfortable in his dry clothes. He was no long shivering and it seemed like he had managed to stave off his impending sickness. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing much." Peter nonchalantly stated as he continued to watch Ray and Egon work. "A little math, somewhat bleak advice and I willing to bet we're going to end up dealing with some nasty ghost or monster or demon before the day is over. How was your shower?"

"Uh... fine."

Egon finished compiling and comparing the collected data and gave Ray a stern look. Walking over to a storage cabinet resting against the far wall of the lab Egon pulled open the top drawer and retrieved a rolled up map of New York City and smoothed it over the desk top. "Ray, I think it'd be best to examine the history museum."

Ray looked down at the map as Egon finished smoothing it out. "Do I want to ask why?"

Egon put his finger down on the location of the map and pointed to the collected PKE data. "The museum seems to be the epicenter of the strongest level of activity. This is also where the Gozer exhibit currently resides. I suspect a direct connection."

Peter and Winston exchanged glances before backing out of the doorway and making their way over their lockers inside the garage. Knowing how accurate Egon's calculations have always been, even when the situation itself seemed too bizarre to properly comprehend, the two men decided to go ahead and gear up in their jumpsuits as if going on a bust.

Ray began to shudder a little with mounting fear. The engineer had faced off with Gozer alongside his friends before and they had all survived the final encounter, but he had always felt responsible for the destruction Gozer wrought as he had been the one to (accidentally) choose Gozer's destructor form. Nightmares had plagued Ray for weeks afterward but he was able to move past his lingering fear and guilt with time. But it seemed that no matter how much good Ray had done for his friends and for the city his conscience would never be truly free of his fateful decision on that inauspicious night.

"I've been suspicious of the multiple artifacts collected and gathered in the single location for some time. But I hadn't been able to get a proper scan."

"Do you really think we'll find something at the museum?"

"Call it an educated guess. Or a 'hunch' if you prefer."

"You Egon? Working on a hunch?" Ray tried to joke but he was too nervous to carry the humor in his voice properly. "Maybe it really is the end of the world!"

* * *

Braving the rainstorm together Ecto-1 pulled out of the garage and splashed through the flooded streets as the iconic hearse made its way toward the history museum. With nothing more than a vague theory and a gut instinct to work with it seemed as though the Ghostbusters were on a mission without knowing as to why they accepted, or what it was they should be looking for.

The windshield wipers fought desperately to keep the windshield clear as Winston drove through the streets. Puddles splashed constantly and marred the side windows in murky drops of rainwater.

"Man, this ridiculous!" Winston protested as he struggled to see through the deluge and ensure that the streets were clear before making any turns.

"Should've taken the canoe..." Peter muttered from the backseat next to Ray.

Egon sat in the front next to Winston and stared intently through the blurry windshield. There was something weighing down on Egon's every thought but he didn't dare express it to his friends. Like Winston and Ray he didn't want to let any of his self doubt affecting their judgment.

Taking nearly twice as long as normal Ecto-1 came to a stop in front of the museum, and fortunately for the intrepid quartet the rain had kept tourists and local residents alike from checking out the museum.

"Let's go." Winston urged as he threw open his door and rushed to the back of the hearse. Pulling open the rear compartment door he wheeled out the four proton packs and hastily grabbed one, slipping it up and onto his shoulders before rushing up the concrete steps of the museum and ducking out of the rain by the front door.

Peter was impressed with Winston's speed and took the cue himself. "He's got a point. Don't want to get caught in the rain. Again."

"Right." Ray agreed as he and Peter jumped out of the hearse just as quickly, grabbed their proton packs and joined Winston at the front door.

Egon was the last to leave the hearse. Never one to hurry though anything delicate or dangerous he took his time exiting the vehicle, shutting all of the doors that had been left open, grabbed the final proton pack, closed the rear compartment and made his way up the steps where his three colleagues were standing together.

"'Bout time." Peter stated sarcastically as he powered up his proton pack and unsheathed the thrower. "Ready?"

"Ready." Egon confirmed as he slipped his proton pack onto his shoulders and also powered up the device. Taking the PKE meter that was always clipped to his belt Egon began to scan the air. "And I believe we will find something very interesting inside the museum."

"Is that a 'good' kind interesting or a 'cover your eyes and deny everything' kind of interesting?" Peter asked as he lead the way into the museum.

"We'll find out soon enough."

Ray swallowed nervously as he and Winston followed close behind Egon and Peter. There was a palpable uneasiness that hung over their heads but no one dared to mention it.

The museum was open for business despite the horrendous weather but it remained deserted and inactive. The museum curator immediately recognized the Ghostbusters and visibly tensed. "Can I help you... 'gentlemen'?"

"No need to worry," Peter easily smooth talked the wisely reluctant curator while the others proceeded to venture through the corridors to the aforementioned Gozer exhibit. "just a routine ghost inspection. Read the fine print on our last contract, any residual hauntings that transpire within one year of the initial bust get a examination."

"Uh..." The curator knew something was going on but also knew better than to question the work of the unorthodox group of scientists. "Sure. Just... Just don't make a mess like last time! Please!"

"No promises, but we'll do our best." Peter casually escorted the curator back toward the entrance and made a locking gesture with his hands. "But you may want to lock up the front doors just in case."

"Oh no!" The curator stopped short and pulled the ring of keys from his trouser pocket. "YOU will lock up AFTER I leave. I don't want any part of whatever it is you're going to do!"

"Uh... sure. No problem." Peter opened his hand and let the keys fall into his waiting palm.

As the curator stormed out of the building and out into the rain Peter followed behind him, pulled the doors shut and turned the lock. "Makes it easier to pull 'plausible deniability' without any witnesses anyway!"

The Gozer exhibit was the museum's pride and joy, but it was nothing more than a troublesome bane and reminder for the Ghostbusters of the near tragedy that had almost befallen the city all those years ago. Numerous carved stone figures, some as small as a penny and others as large a car, lined the hallway. Figures of warriors, gods, demons and animals depicted the mythical beliefs and superstitions of the long deceased Sumerian people. Jewels, pottery, clothing... All once common pieces amongst the tribe were now valued as priceless pieces of an ancient, almost forgotten history.

Egon had begun scanning the display of ancient Sumerian artifacts with the PKE meter and had received an immediate reaction. The display on the meter lit up as the registered levels of psychokinetic energy nearly overwhelmed the small but reliable device.

"The whole exhibit is hot." Egon cautioned as each artifact exuded the same high PKE levels. "There is definitely something going on."

"How do we isolate it?" Ray asked as he bent down to get a closer look at a stone bust of a what appeared to be a demonic face. Tapping the nose of the face with his fingertip Ray felt a sharp chill run up his spine. Retracting his hand he stood up quickly and backed away. "Destroy the artifacts?"

"No." Egon shook his head and turned off the meter. "Based on these readings whatever purpose the artifacts had has come to pass. Each one seemed to channel and amplify a deity of Sumerian origin and the storm we have been enduring must the direct result of the deity's arrival."

"Wait, wait." Winston stared intently at Egon as he held up his hands as if he were holding back an imaginary wall. "Are you saying it's already too late? We can't do anything now?"

"Not entirely." Egon stared down at the floor as he contemplated their next possible move. "We can still confront this deity and stop them before they do any further harm to the city."

Peter caught the end of Egon's sentence as he located his colleagues in the exhibit. "Wait, we can do what now?"

Ray let out a deep sigh and unsheathed his thrower. "Okay. Where do we start looking?"

The entire museum suddenly began to tremble and shake violently as a power surge of energy swept through the building in the form a rippling pulse of pink electricity. The four men staggered on their feet but remained upright as the pulse passed through the area and radiated forcefully over the block and spread out across the city.

"Uh..." Peter looked around accusingly at his colleagues. "Did any of you do that?"

"Wasn't us." Ray pointed to the stone artifact he had touched just a moment ago. "Look!"

The demonic face was charged with the pulse of energy that had swept through the building. What once were dark hollow eyes were now glowing brightly with the same pin energy and seemed to be staring at the four men angrily.

"We should get out of here..." Ray suggested as he wisely took a big step back from the displayed artifacts. "Something very, VERY bad is about to happen!"

"Agreed." Egon cautiously backed away from the display as well.

"Curator gave me the keys and left." Peter brandished the keyring proudly between his thumb and forefinger. "Let's just lock up and be on our merry way."

A heavy 'thud' echoed through the corridor behind the four retreating men which caused them to stop in their tracks. Turning their gaze slowly to look back down the corridor from whence they came the Ghostbusters found themselves staring into the glowing eyes of two human sized stone statues given life by the energy pulse.

Winston unsheathed his thrower and aimed it at the statue standing toward the left of the corridor. "Egon, you and Peter get to the door and get a trap ready. Ray and I will hold these two off."

"Right!" Ray aimed at the statue to the right and prepared to open fire. "We're not letting the city down, not after all we've been through!"

Nodding in agreement Peter made a dash toward the door, grabbing onto Egon's arm in the process and dragging the physicist along behind him. The sound of the proton streams opening fire on the two statues made Peter and Egon flinch but they knew that their colleagues could handle the situation without them.

"What's happening Spengz?" Peter shouted as he skidded to a stop at the locked doors. Isolating the correct key on the keyring Peter quickly unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Weird energy pulses... Statues coming to life... This isn't one of those corny horror movies Ray likes to watch at night!"

"No." Egon unclipped his meter and scanned the area again. A strong PKE signature was brewing in the sky over the building, drawing Egon's gaze upward as he and Peter exited the museum. "This is much worse."

A massive thunderous clash from the interior of the museum caused the two Ghostbusters to rush down the steps and into the rain. The two stone statues had been broken into pieces by the proton streams and all of the pieces had gathered the surrounding energy to fly outward from the building and circle in the air above the museum.

"Now what?" Peter asked as he used his hand to shield his eyes from the rain while staring up at the swirling stones above.

"I cannot say for certain." Egon admitted as he once again clipped the PE meter to his belt.

Ray and Winston raced through the museum and gathered with their friends outside in the rain. Ray was panting a little while Winston didn't seem at all fazed by the adrenaline fueled run.

"We... we had them!" Ray huffed as he pointed up at the stones and struggled to catch his breath. "But... that happened!"

"We know Ray." Peter patted Ray's shoulder once. "We saw."

The stones circled faster and faster in the air. Pink energy began surging about in a small aura of flashing lightning and static filled the air. The heavy rain drops that fell from the sky began to slow until each one stood still in mid fall as if someone had paused a moment in time.

"How in the world...?" Winston asked as he pressed his fingertip into a raindrop and watched the water bend around his touch.

"Gentlemen," Egon unsheathed his own thrower and held it tightly in his hands as he fixed his gaze upon the swirling mass of pink energy that surged through the stones in the sky. "I believe we're about to bear witness to the source of our storm."

"I was really hoping you wouldn't say that..." Peter followed suit, aiming his already unsheathed thrower at the sky. "But somehow I already knew that would be too good to be true."

The stones swirled faster and faster until they were nothing but a blur amongst the pink energy. As the stones reached their peak speed they collided into one other with a thunderous crash that shattered the stones into particles of fine dust. The dust cloud then swirled about, absorbing the surrounding pink energy as it took on a humanoid shape that hovered high above.

"What, or who," Winston corrected himself as the figure's appearance became increasingly detailed. "is that?"

The figure, whose outward appearance was that of stone, descended to the ground in a graceful motion. An eight pointed crown rested up its head, a long white robe with sleeves longer than its arms and a hem longer than its legs billowed in the wind. A mask of stone; a blank humanoid face that had a small pair of lips, modest nose and hollow open eyes, covered its face.

"I believe we're looking at Enki." Egon answered as he stared in scientific awe at the revealed deity.

"Enki?" Winston repeated in confusion. "Never heard of him."

"I have." Ray interjected lowly. "Enki is a Sumerian God. A god of creations, life, intelligence, magic and even water."

The figure understood the words being spoken by the Ghostbusters and seemingly bowed respectfully to show his recognition.

"The name Enki has no confirmed translation," Ray continued without looking away from the figure. "but many scholars agree that the closest translation is 'Lord of the Earth'."

Peter didn't like the sound of that. "'Lord of the Earth'? Sounds like Enki has a bit of Gozer complex."

"Venkman," Egon scolded sharply. "don't say anything to disrespect him."

"Oh. Sorry." Peter sarcastically apologized. "Don't want to offend the guy trying to flood the city."

The figure held out a hand, concealed under the white sleeve of the robe, and with the gesture the surrounding raindrops collected into a sphere of water before his hand. " _I have not seen what I need to see_. _Millennia have passed_ ," the figure spoke in a deep resonating male voice. " _and I have watched as mankind has squandered the gifts of creation, the gifts of knowledge and the gifts of life_."

At those words Egon lowered his thrower and powered off his proton pack. Sheathing the thrower he stood somewhat humbled before the ancient deity.

" _In time I reserved judgment on the human race_." The sphere of water glistened and twirled in his grip as he spoke. " _And I have watched with much disappointment in my heart_. _No gratitude. No respect. No loyalty_."

"Well, it's true that we humans are a flawed race," Ray tentatively tried to explain. "but we're not done evolving and growing. Humans are still learning and with that knowledge we-"

" _Silence_." Enki demanded with a commanding tone. " _You have had generations upon generations to improve and yet I see the same mistakes repeated with no consequences held against those who commit these very atrocities_."

"Now hold," Winston spoke and sheathed his thrower to show no sign of disrespect or violence against Enki. "yes, humans are constantly making mistakes, there's no disputing that. But you can't condemn an entire species based on the actions of a few!"

" _But I can_." Enki defended without hesitation. " _Your race fails to punish those who deserve to be punished. Your race chooses to seal away offenders rather than punishing them in a manner that fits their abhorrent behavior_."

Peter now stepped forward. "Yeah, we don't just butcher or kill criminals because we've evolved to the point of where logic, reason and basic human decency tells us that these offenders are worthy of a second chance." Peter's arrogant tone undermined his plea for compassion. "That IS progress. Surely you can-"

"No more." Enki snarled angrily. "I have come to pass judgment." Rising high up into the sky once more his voice called out to all who could hear. "Humans have failed. Your time has now come to an end." Enki had heard enough from the Ghostbusters and with a flick of his wrist sent the sphere of water flying forward and splashing against Peter's chest with enough force to knock him off his feet and crash down onto the ground onto his back.

"Peter!" Egon nearly sprinted to his friend's side and helped him to sit up. "Are you injured?"

Peter was gasping for breath and could barely speak. "...Yes."

"Where?" Egon worked to unfasten the straps of the proton pack from around Peter's waist and slip them from his shoulders.

"...Chest. My ribs..."

Ray and Winston, with their throwers drawn at maximum power, stood protectively in front of Peter and Egon as the physicist tended to the down psychologist. The rain resumed falling normally, but the drops were somehow heavier and bigger than before.

Egon pressed his hands gently against the front of Peter's chest and could feel a swelling next to his sternum. "I believe two of your ribs have been fractured."

"And I believe you're right. As usual." Peter winced and pressed his hand to the injury sight. "Take care of Enki. I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving you here alone." Egon insisted as he looked toward Enki still hovering in the sky above the museum. "You can't defend yourself."

"Don't worry about me," Peter pushed Egon back and curled one leg under himself. "the entire world's at stake! Literally in this moment everyone else needs you more than I do!"

Nodding in agreement Egon joined Winston and Ray as they watched Enki high above. The god had begun gathering the raindrops and using the small water droplets to create larger spheres in his hands. With simple motions the powerful god sent the water sphere screaming through the sky and barrelling through the metal and concrete sides of the nearest apartment building.

"Whoa!" Stared at the carnage in near disbelief. "This guy is STRONG."

A second water sphere soared off in the opposite direction and devastated the next building just as easily as the first. Metal, concrete and glass rained down in all directions littering the ground with dangerous debris.

"Open fire!" Ray commanded as he unleashed a proton stream at Enki.

The beam snared around Enki but the god brushed it aside without any difficulty as he continued to use spheres of water as powerful projectiles to destroy the buildings in New York.

"That won't work..." Ray turned off his thrower and sounded defeated.

"But we can't just stand back and do nothing!" Winston still sounded like he was ready for a fight. "We have to-"

A cry for help echoed through the area as a woman, trapped inside the first building, called out desperately to anyone who could hear her.

"We have to help her!" Winston pointed to the building and shrugged off his proton pack. "And then we'll find a way to stop Enki."

Ray and Winston raced off toward the building, ignoring Enki for only a moment. The people trapped inside those buildings couldn't wait for the Ghostbusters to find a way to stop Enki. Innocent lives always came first in the eyes of the four heroes as they had pledged their services to benefit those who needed their aid and to never abuse the power they had been given as the only paranormal eliminators in the city.

Egon couldn't leave Peter alone knowing that his friend was unable to do anything to protect himself. Unable to use the proton packs to stop or even subdue Enki there was only one option left for the Ghostbusters to attempt. Negotiation.

"Enki, please!" Egon called out to the god as he continued to send destructive spheres in all directions. "There has to be another way! All of this violence isn't necessary!"

Ignoring Egon's pleas Enki unleashed more and more spheres. The neighboring buildings were peppered with the spheres, large holes torn through all sides causing the buildings to shudder, groan and begin to collapse under their own weight.

"Enki!" Egon shouted again, refusing to run away and refusing to leave Peter alone. "Surely we're worthy of mercy!"

The response from Enki, a god who had passed his final judgment on all of mankind, came in the form of a single massive water sphere careening into the base of the nearest building.

"Ray! Winston!" Egon and Peter shouted in chorus to their friends who were assisting the people trapped inside.

The building began to collapse and dissolve into the ground just as Ray and Winston had lead the remaining people trapped inside to safety. Peter watched transfixed as his friends fled from the building, unaware of his immediate environment and the danger he was in.

Egon, however, took notice of the large slab of concrete that had broken loose from the top of the building and was now falling down directly where Peter was kneeling.

"Peter!" Egon raced over to his friend and pushed him out of the way of the dropping projectile. While Peter was pushed clear of the danger Egon himself was unable to move out of the way in time.

The concrete slab collided with the ground with hearty quake that rivaled the crumbling building. A cloud of dust and a splash of collected rainwater accompanied the final impact as the sound was as deafening as a freight train.

"Egon...?" Peter was resting on his side out of harm's way. He looked around for his friend but couldn't see him. That's when his eyes, wide with horror, rested on the concrete slab. "Egon? EGON?!"

Ray and Winston hurried over to the slab of concrete and struggled to lift it up from the ground which was now marred with a large crater as a result of the massive impact.

"No, no, no..." Peter whimpered as he tried his best to help Ray and Winston lift the slab up from the ground. "Egon, Egon... don't do this to us man!"

Barely able to budge the slab Ray and Winston put all their strength into bracing the slab upward at a slight angle. Peter fell to his knees and peered under the slab where he could see Egon laying face down on the ruined street. This proton pack had been smashed by the impact, which allowed his body to escape from being crushed by the weight. Egon's glasses were now mangled frames of metal and shattered glass resting beside his head.

"I got his arm!" Peter shouted as he used all of his energy, pushing through his pain and fear, to drag Egon out of the crater and from under the slab.

Once he was clear Ray and Winston dropped the slab and helped Peter to carry Egon away from the carnage and placed him on the sidewalk beside Ecto-1.

Egon was pale, he wasn't moving and he wasn't even breathing. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, down his neck and dripped onto his chest. Ray felt for a pulse in Egon's wrist but he couldn't feel anything.

"No, no, no..." Peter repeated as he watched Ray's own face go pale with fear. As the engineer bent down to press his ear to Egon's chest Peter found himself choking back a sob. "Why'd you do it?"

"I can't... I can't find a pulse." Ray admitted as tears welled up in his eyes. "And I don't hear his heart beating."

Winston took a knee and pressed his fingers to the side of Egon's neck to do a pulse check himself, but that's when he made the grim irreparable discovery. "His neck... His neck is broken. There's nothing we can do."

"No!" Peter refused to believe it. As he reached his hands out to try to start CPR Ray and Winston both put their hands on his arms to stop him.

"Don't." Winston shook his head sadly.

"Let him go." Ray asked as he let the tears fall from his eyes. "Just... let him go."

Rage filled Peter. How could Winston and Ray just give up so easily? How could they not want to at least try to fight for Egon's life? But soon that rage gave way sorrow as a deep sense of mourning overwhelmed him.

"I'm sorry Spengz..." Peter bowed his head heavily and gently took hold of Egon's hands. Placing both of Egon's hands over his still chest Peter leaned down and kept his hands on the back of Egon's hands. "I'm so sorry!"

It was then Winston realized that something was different. The spheres of water had stopped tearing through buildings. The building that had begun to crumble suddenly stopped, frozen in place just like the rain had moments ago. It was then Winston saw that rain had stopped falling entirely.

"Guys, look!" Winston pointed up to the sky where Enki was suddenly still. "Something's happening..."

Ray and Peter, both with tears running down their faces, looked up in time to see Enki descending from the sky once more. " _I have seen what I have needed to see_."

"What?" Ray asked softly as Enki hovered just a few inches above the ground near the Ghostbusters. "What did you see?"

" _Even in the face of destruction, even when his own life as well as those around him were to meet their end, this man was still willing to sacrifice his own life to save another_." Enki motioned toward Egon's body with his hand and a subtle nod. " _His desire to protect his world, to protect the people in his life, have given me enough evidence to believe that perhaps your race isn't as ungrateful or as unworthy as I had been lead to believe_."

"So... now what?" Peter was bitter and righteously angry with Enki. "You'll spare us only in the face of a human sacrifice? Talk about 'progress'..."

" _It wasn't the sacrifice that has pleased me_ ," Enki explained with a surprisingly compassionate voice. " _it was the act in itself. The willingness to give up his own life so that another might live. This selflessness proves that humanity is not a lost cause_."

With a gentle wave of his Enki parted the thick rain clouds overhead and allowed sunbeams to break through and warm the city for the first time over a week. Waving his hand again the crumbling building was enveloped in a radiant pink glow and the damage that been inflicted by the water spheres had been repaired within a matter of seconds. The other buildings soon mirrored the first until all of the surrounding damaged structures were as pristine and solid as they had once been.

Ray, Winston and Peter just looked down at Egon's lifeless face, knowing that despite their victory in battle over the ancient god that they had still lost the war.

Enki stood over the Ghostbusters, watching the three men grieving for their lost friend.

" _Guardians of the living_ ," Enki referred to the three surviving men in a deep tone as he raised his hand one last time. " _your true strength lies within each other. I shall not let you carry on as incomplete beings_."

A pink aura enveloped Egon's body as Enki gave the last of his power to the downed man. Peter pulled his hands back and watched in awe as the energy swam over Egon's prone form with a warm glow.

" _Use this gift well_." Enki cautioned. " _For we shall never meet again. Farewell_."

The pink aura faded from Egon's body as Enki himself faded from sight. Small bits of stone fell from where his body once hovered as he vacated what power he had channeled and returned to the realm of the dead.

"I don't-" Peter stopped midsentence as Egon took in a deep gasping breath and coughed a few times. "Egon!"

Ray and Winston leaned closer to Egon as the once dead man took in his breath and his heart began beating again.

"Egon!" Ray put his hand under his shoulders and helped him to sit up. "I lost we..."

"We did..." Peter muttered as he put a firm hand of appreciation on Egon's shoulder. "But... you're back! And that's all that matters!"

Sitting up in a daze Egon looked at his three gathered friends. The emotions on their faces was enough to tell Egon that something wonderful had just taken place. "Are you guys alright?"

"US?!" Peter all but shouted as he wrapped both hands around Egon's upper body and squeezed in a tight hug. "Man! YOU were the one who was just..."

"I'm... I'm aware." Egon confessed as he pressed his hand to his face only to realize his glasses were gone. "I don't... I don't remember anything about being... 'on the other side'. But I am aware of what had happened. Why did Enki save me?"

"Because you saved US." Winston stated with a big grin. "ALL of us."

Ray offered Egon a hand and helped him up to his feet. "Come on Egon, we need to get back to the firehouse. There's just too much to explain and understand."

Peter had been holding onto Egon as he stood up and was suddenly aware of his broken ribs once again. "Ow!" He pressed one hand to his chest and winced. "Enki can bring someone back from the dead but he can't knit broken bones? Some all-powerful god..."

The sun shined brightly through the city and warmed the chilly the streets in the much needed rays of light. A bright rainbow stretched from one end of the city to the other as the four men slowly returned to Ecto-1 and drove back to the firehouse.

"It's strange." Egon commented openly during the drive.

"What is?" Ray asked sincerely from the front seat next to Winston, who was driving once again.

"I've never noticed how beautiful the sky is after a storm." Even without his glasses he could see the bright sunbeams and the colorful rainbow overhead. "It really makes you appreciate the world around you."

Peter put an appreciative hand on Egon's shoulder and shook lightly. "And the people in it."

_**-The End** _


End file.
